Unlucky Thirteen

16

June 22, 2017 – I do often laugh that I work for the government, on the thirteenth floor, and my work phone number begins with 666.

I’m not making this up.

I’m not really laughing today though, since there is still no resolution for, nor any apparent attempt to resolve, my problem with the move to our new office shoeboxes.

Someone, somewhere, thinks that fairness equates to treating everyone the same. But in reality, treating everyone the same is not fair at all, to anyone, because it neglects to recognize the fact that we are not all the same, we are not clones, nor do we do the same jobs, and some of us require certain tools, tools which we are told we will not be provided the room to retain. Expecting someone to maintain their performance without their tools is setting them up for failure.

Further to that, it appears (to me) that the way of dealing with the issue I have presented (repeatedly) is to employ avoidance techniques and, seemingly, hope that I resolve the problems myself.

But I can’t.

Perhaps the thought is that if I make a decision to remove my resources from the office then they can rest well in the knowledge that it was my decision rather than something forced upon me. But that is unfair, demoralizing, and hurtful. Particularly since the entire issue is something that has been forced on everyone, well, except those people with offices with doors, and they are the ones being unhelpful. There is the person who has decided that I’m not his problem, the person who is leaving soon so has probably decided that I am a problem to avoid, and the person who will be coming in soon, and who is probably grateful that I am not yet his problem.

All of this is a huge problem for me.

And so here I am again….wondering how long I will continue to come into work and press that number thirteen that I used to think was lucky, but now feels anything but when I punch it.

Because the only resolution that I can see is for me to pack my things and leave the office. And I hate that thought, because there is huge value in the unexpected conversations that can result in added value to problems on the table. There are those times when a passing conversation results in an “Ah-ha” moment that clarifies a problem one has been working on.

But I currently can see no obvious alternative.

The irony is that the powers that be know that people are going to abandon the office environment, because just yesterday came an email pointing everyone to the updated teleworking agreement information.

When you do something, and you know people are going to leave because of it, doesn’t that provide enough information that it’s just a supremely bad idea?

The reality is that the powers that be really don’t care about the people in the machine. That was pretty clear in the recent cuts that suddenly weren’t.

Some people have lost a great deal of my respect. And that’s the real disappointment in all of this. And it’s left my nerves raw and frayed.

Pass the razor blade please.

117 Photos in 2017: 13. Unlucky For Some

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave